180gr. .357

S

stevieboy

New member
I just posted a similar question over on the S & W Forum. I was at the local Bass Outdoors store today looking for some 158gr. .357 magnum without really hoping I'd find any. There wasn't any to be had, but they did have a few boxes of Remington UMC 180 gr. JHP .357s. At $36 a box it was way too pricey for me, so I didn't buy any.

I've never fired 180gr. magnums. I shoot 158gr. magnums from my S & W models 27 and 686 whenever I can get my hands on them and, until the recent shortage, that was pretty often. I rarely fire 125 gr. magnums from these guns because, to be honest, the experience of shooting the lighter and much hotter round is not pleasant. My question is: how do the 180s stack up against the 125gr. and 158gr. magnum rounds? How do they perform? What's the perceived recoil, muzzle flash, noise like in comparison to these other two rounds? And for what purpose is the heavier round designed? Hunting? Self-defense?
 
I have not shot the 180gr hp but have run many hard cast and lead gas checks at 180gr and 200gr for hog(hardcast) and deer( lead )and they work very well. How do they shoot? Baffalo bore loads some hot loads that will get your attention but the federal 180's are not as bad than say a +p 125gr . Never really though to much about it. I have dan wesson so can change barrels from 8" to 4" and that makes way more change in how the gun feels when shooting than the load it self. Don't like +p type loads in a short barrel to much flash-blast ,barrel rise and make'n the people at the range look to see what the dummy next to them is shooting. But i do like heavy bullets, just work better.
 
The best accuracy I've gotten with my N frame 357 S&W's and Freedom Arms 357's have been with 180gr. bullets.
In fact, my model 83 FA 357 regularly shoots 3" and better groups at 100 yards using hard cast 180gr. bullets.
The velocity is a lot less than for 158gr. and lighter bullets so I would not recommend them for home defense. But, for hunting, they offer better penetration.
Muzzle blast and recoil seem milder than with the lighter bullet loads, to me anyway.

Jim
 
I've experimented with 187 Grain hard cast SWC w/gas checks at 1214 fps. I used 2400 powder. I could have easily pushed this load up to 1,300 fps.

It seems like the heavy bullets are more accurate than the lighter ones. Maybe there is more surface area in contact with the lands and grooves?

Recoil was stiff, even out of a Model 28 S&W. Very accurate load, great for long distance shooting.

I'll be using a comparable load with H110 this weekend.
 
The 180s are typically loaded for game hunting, they generally perform better than lighter bullets on deer. They are not a great idea for lightweight guns as they will beat them up pretty fast. Pressure is fine but the recoil will batter the little guns mercilessly. They are also superior for long range silhouette shooting but factory loads are really too expensive for that sport.



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Winchester 180 grain Partition Gold shoot at about 1100 fps in my 4" 686. This yields moderate recoil for me. The Buffalo Bore Hard Cast 180 grain bullets yield about 1175 fps in the same revolver. I really notice no greater recoil.

I find the Partition Gold a nice round for Self Defense purposes and the Buffalo Bore Hard Cast nice for hunting. Both are too pricey for me to practice with and I reload similar ballistic rounds for that.

As I recall the 'Jello shooters' gave the Partition Gold very good marks for penetration and expansion.
 
I've never fired a factory 180gr .357 but I load my own at near max velocities. Can't say I noticed any extra recoil. If your not going to hunt or shoot silhouette I wouldn't bother with them.
Dallas Jack
 
The 357 is my all time favorite handgun cartridge. I use it almost exclusivily for deer hunting anymore. In the many handguns I've had chambered in this cartridge, the 180 grain factory loads always shot as well, or better, than the 158 grain factory loads I've tried. When shooting them you cannot tell the difference in felt recoil or noise. On deer sized game they offer better penetration and overall good expansion performance. I shot two deer last week with the 357 using this load and each time the cartridge performed well. FYI, the factory bullets were Remington 180gr. semi jacketed hollow points.
 
158 for revolvers

I use 158 gr (160 till they stopped making it) gr bullets in my revolvers, as it seemed a good blend of velocity and bullet weight.

NOt to get on the wrong track, but I've always felt the 180's would make good carbine bullets, but could not be driven fast enough out of the bbl lengths I like (3-4) inches in revolvers to satisfy. Six and eight in. bbls, which would drive them faster, seem hard to carry in hip holsters. and clunky in vehicle seats.
 
180 gr. .357s using 2400 work very well from my Winchester Trapper carbine (16 in bbl.) Shoots much flatter than I expected. Never tried any from a 4 in revolver. I figured it's just going to make a lot of flash.
 
A hot loaded 357 with a 125 and 158gr bullet is good for out around 150yards or if folks have forgot'n how far elmer keith use to shoot game with a revolver. I got to crono my H&R 44 at 2085fps with some old fairly hot loads of 23gr of 2400 and a 240gr keith . Look at some of BB 357 loads out of a carbine willgo over 2000fps too and they are impressive to say the lease.
 
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Go to there site and look for your self ,they do work well in shorter barrels but get real impressive in longer barrels
 
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